Grammar
Determiners: choose words before nouns
Imagine that several coats are on a chair. A coat means any suitable coat. My coat tells the listener whose coat to find. Those coats points to a particular group. The words before coat change the message.
Choose common determiners that show which noun you mean, whose it is, or how much or how many you mean.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
Those keys are on the desk. /ðoʊz kiːz ɑr ɑn ðə desk/
The short answer
Use a determiner before a noun when you need to show reference, ownership, number, or amount. Choose the word that gives the listener the information needed to understand the noun.
Please bring those files to my desk.
Why it works: Those identifies a particular group of files, and my shows whose desk is meant.
5 more examples
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I need a receipt for this purchase.
A introduces one receipt without identifying a particular receipt.
Not this:
The receiptis inside the bag. What changes: The points to the receipt introduced in the first sentence. -
Her phone is charging by the window.
Her connects the phone with one person.
Not this:
The phoneby the window is charging. What changes: The phrase by the window identifies a particular phone without naming its owner. -
These keys open the storage room.
These points to a particular plural group near the speaker or in the current situation.
Not this:
Some keysare missing from the ring. What changes: Some gives an unspecified number of keys. -
Each visitor receives a map.
Each considers the visitors one at a time.
Not this:
All visitorsreceive a map. What changes: All refers to the group together. -
Several buses stop near the museum.
Several gives a number that is more than two without stating the exact total.
Not this:
The busesnear the museum are crowded. What changes: Near the museum identifies a particular group of buses.
Read the full guide
Start with the noun, then ask what the listener needs to know about it. Do you mean one new item, a known item, something connected with a person, or an amount? In a message, the forms a report, the report, her report, and several reports can all be correct. Each form gives a different instruction to the reader.
Start with the noun you mean
A noun on its own may leave the listener with a question. If you say notebook, the person listening may ask which notebook or how many notebooks. A determiner can answer that question before the noun appears. The right choice depends on the situation, not on the noun by itself.
Could you bring me that notebook?
That tells the listener to identify one particular notebook.
You are asking a clerk for any notebook. Which phrase works: a notebook or that notebook?
Use a notebook when any suitable notebook will do.
Use articles for new and known nouns
Use a or an for one singular countable noun when you introduce it and the exact item is not known. Use the when the listener can identify the noun from an earlier sentence, a shared place, or a phrase after the noun. Choose a or an by the next sound: an hour and a university.
A customer left an umbrella at the desk.
A customer and an umbrella introduce new singular countable nouns.
The umbrella has a red handle.
The umbrella refers back to the umbrella already mentioned.
Show connection with possessive determiners
Use my, your, his, her, its, our, and their before a noun to show a connection with a person, animal, group, or thing. These are possessive determiners. They do not take an apostrophe. Say our meeting or its cover. Do not add the before a possessive determiner.
Our train leaves at six.
Our identifies the train as the one connected with the speaker and other people.
Which phrase shows that a problem belongs to a company: their problem or the problem?
Use their problem when the company or its people have already been identified.
Point with this, that, these, and those
Use this and these for things you treat as near in place, time, or attention. Use that and those for things you treat as farther away. This and that go with singular countable nouns. These and those go with plural nouns. The distance may be physical, but it can also come from the conversation.
This route is shorter than the other one.
This points to one route that is the current focus.
Those buildings were empty last year.
Those points to more than one building treated as farther away.
Give number or amount
Quantity determiners give information about how many or how much. Some and any leave the number open. Many, few, much, and little describe an amount. Numbers give an exact count. Each and every both refer to all members, but each looks at members separately while every presents the whole group one by one.
We have enough chairs for every guest.
Enough shows a sufficient amount, and every applies the statement to guests one by one.
Which phrase gives an exact count: some emails or four emails?
Four emails gives the exact count.
Know when no determiner is needed
English can use a plural countable noun or an uncountable noun with no determiner for a broad meaning. Books can be expensive talks about books in general. Information can be useful talks about information in general. Add a determiner when you mean a particular group or amount.
Fresh fruit is available at the market.
Fresh fruit has a broad meaning here, so no determiner is needed.
The fruit in this basket is ripe.
The phrase in this basket identifies a particular amount of fruit.
Before you go
Remember this
Look at the information you want to give before the noun. Use articles to introduce or identify. Use possessives to show connection. Use this, that, these, and those to point. Use quantity words and numbers for amount or number. Leave plural and uncountable nouns without a determiner when you are making a general statement.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Determiners: choose words before nouns"
What is a determiner in English?
A determiner is a word placed before a noun to help identify it. It can show which noun you mean, who or what it is connected with, or its number or amount. In her phone, her tells us which phone is meant.
I need a receipt for this purchase.
Are a, an, and the determiners?
Yes. A and an introduce one singular countable noun without identifying a particular one. The points to a noun the listener can identify from the situation, an earlier mention, or a phrase after the noun.
The receipt is inside the bag.
Can I use two determiners before one noun?
Usually, choose one main determiner. Say my jacket, the jacket, or that jacket. You can add other words in the noun phrase when the pattern allows it, such as these two jackets or all the jackets.
Her phone is charging by the window.
What is the difference between each and every?
Both can refer to all members of a group. Each looks at members separately and often appears with a small, definite group. Every presents the group one by one and is common for general rules. Both take a singular noun.
The phone by the window is charging.
When can I use a noun without a determiner?
Use no determiner with many plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns when the meaning is general. Books can be expensive and information can be useful are broad statements. Add a determiner for a particular group, amount, owner, or number.
These keys open the storage room.